Process for the separation of liquids.



0. H. NONNENBRUCH. PROCESS FOR THE SEPARATION or LIQUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED M1614. l9l5. 1,170,558. Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

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OTTO HEINEIOH N ONNENBRUCE, OF NEW ROCHELLE. NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO DE LA VEBGNE MACHINE 00.. A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

rnoonss son THE 1,170,558. Original application also July 8,

Specification of Letters Patent.

SEPARATION or Lioomsj Patented Feb. 8,1916.

ions. stain No. nose.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, O'rro Hsixaioii Nonxnxiiaocn a citizen of Germany, and a resident of ew Rochelle, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improve meats in Processes for the Separation of Liquids, of. which the following is a spccificatiom'this application being a divisional a lication of application Serial Number 38, a4, filed July 1915.

.My invention relates to a method for se arating li uids of different specific gravities, and re or particularly to the process and device whereby such separation may be automatically interrupted at any predetermined period of separation.

One object of my invention is a means for effectively and economically separating two or more liquids of different specific gravities. l

Another object of my invention is a means whereby the separation of liquids of diffcrent specific gravities' may be carried to any desired degree of completeness.

Another object of my invention is a means whereby tlie separation of liquids of difforent s ecific gravitics ma be carried automatical to any degree" 0 completion and the furt or separation automatically interrupt/ed. i nothor ob ect of my invention is a means whereby oil may be economically and slicetively separated from water and the separation automatically interrupted when any predetermined proportion of oil has been removed from the water.

Other objects of my invention will be evident upon .a consideration of my specification and drawings.

My invention is suitable for a iplication to those mixtures of liquids of di crent speciiic gravities which are not soluble in each other and hence, when allowed to rest, will scfparate into layers, the specific gravitics o the different layers increasing downwardly. The usually employed methods of separating these layers one from the other is to decant the upper layer or to draw oil the lower layer, the decantation .or withdrawal being interrupted when all of the liquid of one specific gravity has been removed, This process requires the constant attention of the operator and demands the greatest care, in order that the one liquid may be completely recovered without ad mixture with the liquid of the next layer. In the usoof opaque receptacles, such as iron, wood, etc., it is impossible to watch the condition of the procedure and there is no assurance that one layer has been oomplotcly withdrawn, until a portion of the next layer makes its appearance, and hence under these conditions a complete separation without admixture is impossible. It is evident that during this process the operator must be' constantly employed in order that he may interrupt the separation. Further, it is impossible to employ this method when it is desired to retain a certain proortion of one liquid within the receptacle in order to admix it with the next layer 0 liquid, as there is no means of ascertaining the amount of liquid not withdrawn.

My invention overcomes all of the above and other dilliculties incident to this method of separation, and presents a method whereby any desired roportion of one or more of the layers of iquids may be withdrawn, and the operation interru )ted automatically at any desired point without the attention of the operator.

My invention comprises broadl the separation of layers of liquids o dill'crcnt specific gravitics by means of another liquid, t io separationbeing interrupted automatically at any predetermined point of separation.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification and illustrating one form of a device capable of accomplishing the obje t of this invention, similar parts are represented by similar numbers.

Figure 1 is a vertical cross-section in diagrammatical' form of one form of the device. Fig. 2 is a crosssoction through the line 22 of Fig. 1.

In the operation of engines, particularly of the oil consuming ty )0, the introduced oil becomes impregnated with deleterious substances, such as carbon, grease, etc., ren dcring it unlit for rc-use without purification. Numerous methods have been suggested for this purification, among which is the treatment of the impure oil with water and chemicals in order to separate the mixture into layers of oil, impurities and water, and the following example refers particularly to supply of water 0 a drain-or sewer.-

. receptac ceptacle 20 downwardly t carrying system,

this method of procedure, althou hit is evident that the process may be rea ilyused in a corresponding manner for the separation of any liquids which possess the property of being deposited in laycrsjdue to the difference in the specific gravities of the various ingredients of the mixture. The liquid holding rece tacle 5 is comprised of the cylindrical si e 6, the inclined )ottom 7 and the inclined top 8, the top 8 being inclinedinwardlv and then upwardl parallel to the side 6, orming the cylindrical top opening 9. The bottom 7, is connected to 'an outlet pipe 10 fitted with a valve 11. The outlet pipe 10 above valve 11 is connected to pipes 12, 13, 14, fltted respectively with valves 15, 16, 17 by means of pipe 18. An overflow pipe 11) extends from within the cylindrical neck 9 downwardly through the bottom opening 10 and outwardly to a proper reservoir. Surrounding the receptac e 5 is a second liquid holding e open at the top the bottom 2 being hermetically attache to outlet pipe 10. ,The bottom of rece tacle 20. is connected to pipe 10 above va ve 11 by means of pipe 22 carrying valve 23. An overflow ipe 2- extends from the up ver portion 0 reirough the bottom 21. The upper part of overflow pipe 24 is fitted with a nipple 25 fixedly attached thereto, the nip lo 25 being threaded too short pipe 26, tie nipplebein ofsuch a length that pipe 26 may be raise or lowered to any desircd'position. A pipe 27 leads downwardly from the bottom portion of receptacle 20 and carries valve 28. Pipe 12 leads to an air compressing medium, pipe 13 to a supply of impure oil, pipe 14 to a supply of water, pipe 27 to a supply of water, pipe 24: to a drain,-sewer or waste carrying system, pipe 10 to a drain, sewer or waste and pipe 19 to anoil storage reservoir.

In operation the process is conducted as follows: Both of the receptacles 5 and 20 are empty and all the valves are closed. Valve 18 of pipe 13 is open-and the 1101301 amount of impure oil is introducer into receptacle 5 and the valve closed. A suflicient supply of fresh water is then introduced into receptacle 5 by opening valve 17 of pipe 1- and the valve closed, this amount of water being insuflicient to cause the liquids to reach the opening of overflow pipe 10. Valve 28 of pipe 27 is then opened and retained in this position during the remainder of the operation, thus causing a the pro or temperature for the reaction to enter tie receptacle 20 andoverflow throu h overflow. pipe 24into be proper reagents are ,theaintroduced into receptacle 5and the iniature agitatedby means of air allowed to enter by opening va1ve15'of pipe 12. Wh'en .liquid being the mixture has been sufliciently agitated to allow of the completion of the reaction, valve 15 is closed and the mixture allowed to rest. The mixture finally separates itself into three layers, the upper one being composed of the pure oil, the bottom layer of water, while intermediate between the two is a layer carrying the impurities. When this condition has been reached, valve 23 (if pipe 22 is opened, thus placin receptacles 5 and 20 7 into connection witi each other, and the water entering receptacle 20 through pipe 27 will find its way into receptacle 5 through pipe 22, and thus cause the contents of receptacle 5 to rise, the u per portionof the carried oil through overflow process being continued until the pressure 0 liquids in receptacle 5 to the top of overflow pipe 19 is Q( ual to the pressure of water in race tacle O to the top of overflow pipe 24. I both receptacles contain liquit s of the samospeciflc gravity, the height of the two columns of liquid in the two receptacles would necessarily be Gtlllll, but if the liquid in receptacle 5 is lighter than the liquid in receptacle 20, it is evident that the height of the column in receptacle 5 would be greater than that in receptacle 20 in order to prod uce ..the same pressure and cause an equilibriuirrjbetween the two volumes of liquid. In carrying out the, operations of the particular processunder consideration, the rising of the liquids in receptacle 5 will cause the oil to graduallv overflow through overflowpi .e 19. and when all, or nearlv all, of the, oi has been removed, the liqui s in reservoir 5 will still have a lower specific gravity than that of the water in receptacle 20, due tolthe presence of the oil or of the layer ,of impurities which is also lighter than water. At this point, the overflow of the liquids in receptacle 5 will be 1 interrupted and the water will continue to be removed from receptacle 20by means of the overflow pipe 24, as the top of overflow pipe 19 will be iigher than that of overflow pipe 24-. The length 'of overflow pipe 24 maybe regulated to serve the purpose of the particular liquids treated in receptacle 5 and pipe 19, this ience when valve 23 is opened the device needs no further attention, as the overflow of the liquids in receptacle 5 will'cease automatically when it has reached the desired state of separation. Finally, the sludge or impurities and the water contained in re- 1.:

ceptacle 5 may be removed by closing valve 23 and opening valve 11 of pipe 10.

In the drawiu s the liquids in receptacle 5 are shown as an anced with the li uid in receptacle 20, and the overflow throng i overmay be removed before the interruption of 1 SCOPG a form, size,

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the overflow by raisin pi e 9.6 of overflow ipe 24, thus raising the evel of water 32 m reservoir 20.

1 One important feature of this device is that, when a particular temperature is required to cause the reaction and se aration of the various liquids in receptace 5, it can be accomplished by introducing a liquid of the proper temperature into receptacle 20, allowing it to run continuously from the beginning of the operation until the final separation and removal of the various in dients.

t is evident that all of the arrangements of receptacles and ipes, as illustrated in the drawings, may he changed from their form and condition as there shown, and this particular form is illustrated simplv to show one form of a device capable 0 accomplishing the object of the invention.

I do not limit myself to the particular shape, number, or arrangement of parts of the device, nor to the particular liquids, nor to the relative specific gravities; as illustrated and described, all of which may be varied without goin beyond the of my invention as escrlbed and claimed.

What is claimed, is:

1. The process of separatin liquids of different s ecific gravities whic comprises allowing t e mixture of liquids to so arate into layers, causing the removal of t e desired liquids by means of 'an introduced liuid until the desired-removal has been 0 ected and automatically interru ting the removal of the desired liquids wit out the interruption of the flow of the introduced liquid.

2. The process of separatingh liquids of diflerent s ecific gravities whic comprises allowing t e mixture of liquids to se arate into layers and then removing the ayers 1 from the mixture by means of the pressure of a liquid of greater specific gravity than that of the mixture, the removal being antomatically interrupted when the ressure of the remaining mixture is equa to the presure of the removing liquid, the flow of the removing liquid being uninterrupted.

3. The process of removing liquids which have separated into layers due to their different specific gravities which comprises forcing the layers 11 wardly by means of an introduced liquid of greater 5 ecific gravity than the liquids to be remove and automatically interrupting the removal of the liquids when the pressure of the unre- 4 moved liquids is equal to the ressure of the removing liquid, the flow 0 the removing liquid being uninterrupted.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for live cents each,

4. The process of removing oil from water which comprises allowing the oil to rise above the water, introducing a flow of water beneath the oil causing the removal of the oil through an overflow, and automatically interrupting the removal while allowing the flow of the water to continue.

5. The process of separating oil from a mixture of oil and water which comprises allowing the oil to rise above the water, introducin a flow of water beneath the oil causing tie removal of some of the oil from the mixture, and automatically interrupting the removal when the pressure of the introduced water is equal to the pressure of the remaining oil and water, the flow of the introduced water being uninterrupted,

6. The process of separating liquids of difl'ercnt s ecific gravitles which comprises allowing tie mixture of liquids to separate into layers within a receptacle having an overflow outlet, connecting the lower part of this receptacle with a second rece tacle havin an overflow outlet, and intro ucing a liquid into the first recegtacle below the upper layer of the separate liquids in such a manner as to allow the upper layer of separated liquid to overflow through the outlet until he pressure of the unseparated liquids is equal to the pressure of the liquid within the second rece tacle and the overflow of the se arated liquids is interrupted and the over ow of the introduced liquid in the second receptacle is continued.

7. The process of separating1 liquids of different s ecific gravities whic comprises allowing t 1e mixture of liquids to separate into layers within a receptacle having an overflow outlet, connecting the lower part of this receptacle with a second receptacle having an overflow outlet below that of the overflow outlet of the first receptacle, and introducing a liquid into the first rece tacle below the la ers of liquids to be remove said introduced iquid bein of greater specific ravitv than that of the liquids to be removed, in sue a manner as to allow the desired layers of 1i uids to overflow through the outlet until the pressure of the unseparated liquids is equal to the pressure of the liquid within the second receptacle and the overflow of the separated l1 uids is interrupted and the overflow of the liquid in the second receptacle is allowed to continue.

Signed at New York city in the county of Bronx and State of New York, this 19th day of August, 1915.

OTTO HEINRICH NONNENBRUCII.

Witnesses:

M. J. POWELL, E. J. Kii'rz.

by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0." 

